Baku, September 30, AZERTAC

The "Erasmus+" project titled "Enhancing sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystem in Higher Education Institutions of Azerbaijan – ENGAGE", developed and presented under the coordination of Mingachevir State University (MSU), has been accepted for financing by the European Commission. Thus, MSU became the first regional university to win the "Erasmus+" project as a coordinator.

The University told AZERTAC that the main goal of the Project is to strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystem in relevant Azerbaijani higher education institutions, to develop the entrepreneurial mind-sets of academic staff and students, and to improve the innovative approach. The Project’s action plan includes the creation of more innovative ideas in higher education institutions, the increase of practical content of education process, the expansion of start-up activities, and the development of university – industry cooperation. During the implementation of the Project, the best practices of partner universities representing EU countries will be studied, a number of trainings will be organized for staff members of Azerbaijani higher education institutions participating in the Project.

The ENGAGE Project will be implemented under the coordination and management of MSU within 36 months. The initial budget of the Project is €800,000. Well-experienced staff members of Baku Business University have actively involved in preparation of the Project content.

Eleven Azerbaijani higher education institutions (Mingachevir State University, Baku Business University, Azerbaijan State University of Economics, Azerbaijan Technical University, Baku Higher Oil School, Azerbaijan State University of Culture and Arts, Azerbaijan Tourism and Management University, Ganja State University, Nakhchivan State University, Azerbaijan State Agricultural University, Odlar Yurdu University) are considered to be the main beneficiaries of the Project.

At the same time, the Project consortium also includes the National Confederation of Entrepreneurs (Employers) Organizations of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Association of Women Entrepreneurship Development in Azerbaijan.

The Project’s partnering universities representing five EU countries are Tallinn University of Technology (Estonia), KTH Royal Institute of Technology (Sweden), University of Lisbon (Portugal), the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (Spain) and the WSG University of Economics (Poland).

It should be noted that MSU, which is currently rapidly modernizing and aiming to become a new age university, focuses on staff and student’s capacity building, on application of innovative teaching technologies and modern research methods, and on expansion of start-up activities. For this purpose, MSU pays special attention to international cooperation development, to bringing the best practices of leading foreign universities, and to benefiting from the opportunities offered by EU’s "Erasmus+" program.